One Room Challenge: Week 3 (All That Painted Woodwork)

Let’s talk paint this week! But first, why has only one person chastised me for painting the woodwork so far? People. I expected more outrage. (I still get the occasional comment on this post from 2010 about it.)

OK, for real though. I’ve always maintained that we may paint the woodwork on the second floor. Victorian houses like mine were usually built with the nicest, most expensive materials on the first floor in the common areas, and lesser grade materials were used in the utilitarian spaces (kitchens, bathrooms) and private quarters (bedrooms). The double parlor, dining room, and entryway in my home all have old-growth oak millwork, and fir has been used everywhere else. The details and proportions are lovely — 10″ baseboards! — but the knots and wild, open wood grain are not. Often, the Victorians would paint lesser wood to look like a more expensive variety with faux-finishing, but that’s not my thing.

You know what else is my thing? White trim paired with black doors. I think the first time I really took notice of the look was after seeing Thomas O’Brien pull it off. (And this was not a deciding factor, but I met O’Brien at an event shortly after moving into this house, and we talked about painting natural wood trim. He was all for it.) Black paint looks better on doors with some architectural interest and you can fake it with flat-front hollow-core doors by adding molding, but luckily I had a good base to start with. My house has, through all of its changes over the years, kept its paneled doors with ornate brass doorknobs, and between the two rooms I’m working on now there are french doors. They aren’t original, but I do like them a whole lot. Even more so now that they’re black.

Eventually, my plan is to paint out the entire second floor. Here’s a before and after mockup of the hallway.

The hall color may change, and maybe I’ll bring in wallpaper or some other wall treatment, but the white trim, black doors, and antique gold radiators — those elements are staying in the plan. And now they have been made reality in my ORC space!

I love it.

I don’t like stark white in an old home. My favorites tend to be a little warmer, with a creamy ivory tone while still reading as white. Benjamin Moore’s color of the year for 2016 is Simply White (OC-117), and while I did look at other options, I found that it was the perfect not-too-stark, not-too-cold white. I used it for the ceiling in a flat Ben formulation, and in satin Aura for all of the trim. The doors were painted Black Beauty (2128-10), which is the same color I painted the walls downstairs, but in semi-gloss Aura. I chose Everard Blue (CW-575) for the den — a dark blue with plenty of green in it from the Williamsburg historic color collection. It has the depth I was looking for, changing throughout the day under different lighting conditions but always looking good. And then for the bedroom, I wanted a subtle pink. Nothing too ‘little girl’ or ‘baby,’ and I found White Blush (OC-86) to be the perfect color. Almost off-white, but with a flattering rosy tint that doesn’t go lilac or peach. I chose Regal Select, matte finish, for both wall colors.

I did pick up several samples before settling on that perfect pink though. Just because you feel confident with a color based on the little swatch doesn’t mean you shouldn’t test it! I painted swatches right on the walls in both the bedroom and the den (so I could see the colors under different conditions). I liked Farrow & Ball’s Dimity (#2008) as a close runner-up, but I preferred the light freshness and soft color of White Blush.

My colors had been chosen and I was preparing to paint everything myself when the opportunity to partner with Paintzen came along. They were about to launch in Chicago as I was about to start on the One Room Challenge, so the timing worked out perfectly for me to give them a try! They make it easy to work with reputable professional painters, and quotes are provided online after giving some basic information about your project. Once you give the go ahead and agree on a start date, they take care of the rest and they send a licensed, fully-insured paint crew to do the work. The service got its start in the NYC area, but they’re now available in other cities too.

You guys. I was very excited about this. I used to paint houses way back when, and I knew how much work there was to be done! It was daunting, and I didn’t want to misrepresent the job because this was a lot more than just ‘painting two rooms.’ I gave them the measurements (two rooms with 9′ high ceilings, 13×15 and 13×17) and explained that there were half-a-dozen small holes to be patched from the electrical work we’d had done. The walls needed to be painted, and the ceilings too. And then there was all of that woodwork, going from bare wood to either white (the baseboard, door trim, window trim, windows, transom windows, shutters, and picture rail) or black (the paneled doors and french doors). A LOT of work, but they were on board. Once I had chosen my paint colors, formulations, and finishes, Paintzen arranged for it to be delivered from a local Benjamin Moore retailer. They also supplied the primer (Zinnser B-I-N shellac-based primer —strong fumes, but good adhesion and coverage). I think we talked things over on a Wednesday and they could start as soon as that Friday, but we moved it to Monday of the next week to give us time to clear out the rooms and move the big stuff to the center. We had planned on staying clear of the two rooms while work was underway, so that gave us the weekend to still be able to sleep in the bedroom.

Come Monday morning, the crew met the paint delivery truck out front and then came inside at 8:00 to start work for the day. They laid rosin paper to protect the wood floors, covered the remaining furniture with plastic tarps, taped off windows and hardware with a combination of painters’ tape and liquid masking, and got started on repairs. They had the holes to fix, of course, but they also went above that and fixed any hairline cracks in the plaster they came across. One section was particularly bad, but they fixed it right up!

I was impressed by the attention they paid to the trim too. No cutting corners. They cleaned and sanded the wood, used an excellent primer, and sanded between coats for a smooth finish. They sprayed all of the woodwork, so it went faster than it would have with a brush, and the finish was nicer. I’ve done my fair share of painting, but I don’t own a professional sprayer.

It went pretty quickly from looking insane to looking really, really good.

The painting crew did an amazing job, and they rocked it out in five days. They were here from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, two or three guys at a time, starting on a Monday and finishing up on a Friday. I can’t even imagine how much time it would have taken me to do all of that by myself! I would still be in there working on it. (A huge thank you to Paintzen for sponsoring the paint job — they were so awesome to work with.)

After the two spaces were painted and cleaned up, and the furniture was put back into place, the rooms started to shape up! I had a few things left up in the air when I showed you the design plan last week, but I’ve made progress on that front. I went ahead and ordered the ceiling fan, and I picked up a pair of vintage slipper chairs. (I may only use one in my design right now, but when they’re cheap and you find a pair, always get the pair. Same goes for table lamps.) I’m still holding out hope for the ottoman-as-coffee-table, but I’ve got a backup in place to be safe, in case the other gets pushed back again. And I’ve decided on the curtains: pale pink linen in both rooms, hung from the brass curtain rods I already own. I’m working with Tonic Living on them, and they’re going to sew the linen into lined curtains with a pinch-pleat top. It’s going to look so good!

There’s still work to be done (installing a lighting fixture and ceiling fan, putting up those curtain rods, that sort of thing), but the only big decision left is the art. Oh, that big blank wall.

Jess

April 20, 2016 at 10:23 am

Hooray!! I am so excited to see the final result. As for the woodwork, I’m so glad you decided to paint it and never look back! I feel strongly that honoring a historic home isn’t really about preserving every single original detail, but more about making it the most lovely version of itself. And I have all the heart eyes for that crisp white. It makes the detail in the moldings/trims absolutely sing. Please keep the updates coming!

Sweet lord, it’s SO.SO.GOOD. The Everard Blue is just so swoonworthy. I got ahead of myself and didn’t read properly, and I got so excited that the hallway had been done too. Now I’m just so excited for that to happen in the future! I love your woodwork downstairs too, but the black and white is just stunning.

Beautiful! I painted the natural wood trim in one of my upstairs bedrooms when I converted it to a nursery, and it’s still my favorite room in the house. This has me thinking hard about maybe doing the rest of the upstairs…

Katrina

April 20, 2016 at 1:13 pm

Love!
Hi Neighbor (i’ve sent you a couple of emails on this and our victorian)
We too have original wood downstairs w/pocket doors but upstairs is painted a warm white.
So far we’ve tried SW summer white and its great. I love the mock-up and your saturday appearence on the improvement show featuring plants!

Amy

April 20, 2016 at 4:16 pm

Have you considered flip-flopping the bedroom and den? The bed would be awesome against the big blank wall. It might help more with the dresser/nightstand layout as well, which looked a little tight before.

I’ve thought about it, yes, but I love waking up in the bedroom. It was better when we had a beautiful leafy tree right outside the window and I do miss that as part of my view, but I like seeing the sun rise from bed. The room just feels right.

Monique

April 20, 2016 at 5:10 pm

OK, I’ll bite. It’s your home, and I’m glad you like it, but I think the reason you’re not getting much push back is because the rest of us wood-lovers are hopping off ship. When you painted your trim white in the old house, everything appeared flat. -Especially in your kitchen, where it also looked cold and sterile. So I stopped coming to your blog until I heard you were in a Victorian. I prayed you wouldn’t touch that wood as my heart beats for Oak Park preservation and had truly been enjoying your interiors. Each time I saw the combo of dark paint, pink paint, grayish blue paint next to that warm wood it made my heart skip a beat. Now your home no longer appeals to me and I’ll have to find another blog for my morning routine. That’s how it goes. No kicking, screaming, or protesting. There are bigger things in this world to focus on. (Perhaps Trump gives us that perspective. One good thing.)

I’m certain I did lose a fair amount of people when I originally painted the wood in our last home. Where you saw cold and sterile, I saw fresh and bright. I’ve been enjoying the process of pairing colors with the wood trim here (of which there is still plenty), but I’m also excited about the contrast and modernization I’m bringing to the second floor.

I love that you’ve barely begun ORC, and I love it already. And you are absolutely spot on in deciding to paint this particular woodwork. I expect that with any design blog I follow, decisions and projects will not always be in line with my preferences, but that’s just life, not a reason to pout or get huffy. It is after all, your house.

No, you’ve painted the woodwork?!! It looks fabulous and so glad you got professionals in to do the job. That would have taken forever! I like that you’ve kept the natural wood on the first floor but for these more private spaces I say go all out and make it feel like you. The deep teal and barely there pink already feel more your style. Love the black doors and the awesome transom windows. Can’t wait to see the pink linen drapery either. Tonic Living always does great work.

Amy Knight

April 21, 2016 at 11:03 am

I love unpainted woodwork and have been having a serious struggle in my own house. We have beautiful wood but it’s in crappy shape- you know? Like the people who lived in the house for the lasst 100 odd years didn’t paint (most) of it, but they sure screwed in plenty of hooks and curtain rods and cafe curtains and curtain holders and door locks etc…By the time I’m done filling all the holes, I’m pretty sure the only way they’ll look remotely nice is if I paint them. And it’s not a grand house so even in the room where the wood is in good shape, it’s not NICE wood. So I appreciate hearing your reasoning and it giving me permission to make the choices that I think are right for me and my house. Convincing my husband is another thing…

Rae

Andrew Schultz

April 21, 2016 at 11:23 am

It’s looking so amazing! I painted all of my doors Black Beauty in our Chicago condo and it made a huge difference. Going to eventually do the same with our house in Minneapolis. I got estimates for all the trim & doors in the whole house to get a fresh coat of white (it’s currently just a bit too yellowy, but a gorgeous enamel finish) and it was going to be 15-20K! Soooo… I will be doing it myself over the next, oh, 30 years. Decorator White, one window at time.

That is A LOT of painting! It’s such a transformation just having the paint done! I love white trim and black doors and have been trying to convince my husband it’s a good look, thanks for the help! :)

Tracy

April 22, 2016 at 7:12 am

We lived in a house from 1880 and we painted all the trim in the house bright white. It looked much nicer and suited our style. I say paint the whole house! The next owners can strip the paint if they don’t like it.

Katherine

Kristina

April 22, 2016 at 7:53 pm

I love this! (And am facing a similar situation). Did you have a place where the wood banister from the stairs from the ground floor comes up into the hallway where the trim is now painted? If so, how did you handle this transition?

Laurie Crist

adawnpaxton

April 25, 2016 at 8:38 am

I am participating in the ORC too as a guest participant but wanted to pipe in on the woodwork debate! We have a 115 year old house with the most beautiful and expensive oak trim. I tried to replicate the trim in a closet addition we did and I couldn’t afford it, so that helped me make my mind up not to paint the trim in the house! I painted it in one room the night before we moved in for my daughter’s room and I instantly regretted it. I think the original owner of our house owned a lumber yard so he used the good stuff on all four floors! But I think yours looks lovely and it is your house! If it isn’t in good shape, why suffer through looking at it if you don’t love it!?

Lisa

April 25, 2016 at 1:23 pm

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU PAINTED THE FREAKING WOODWORK! IT’S BEEN THERE HOW LONG, AND NOW YOU’VE RUINED IT! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT! YOU HAVE RUINED THAT HOUSE! HOW DARE YOU!
Um, is that good enough? ;) Love the colors!

Love your color choices and painting the wood – I know I would have thought twice or probably 10 or 20 times before painting the wood, but watching your decorating style here has been an inspiration because I know how great it all turns out. Thanks! It looks fabulous.

Megan

April 26, 2016 at 1:58 pm

I’m a fan of the painted woodwork! It cleans it up. I can appreciate the original woodwork, but dang. Nothing looks more crisp and classic then white trim and black doors. Especially with those gorgeous transoms!

[…] knobs), lighting finishes, and a small accent table. You saw in last week’s update how the paint colors from the chips below have been incorporated, and of course it’s all in the design plan. The […]

Jill

Christi

May 6, 2016 at 11:12 am

Absolutely love the black doors and white trim. We are the the process of remodeling a rambling old farmhouse, and I’m seriously considering painting all the white doors (we still have some unpainted ones, which I hesitate to paint at all . . . mostly because my mother would say, “tsk, tsk, tsk,” ha!)

What I was wondering, was if you go with black doors–do you do all the doors black? Closet doors? Master bath door? Built in cabinets? Wondering if I have to go all in, or if it would still look ok to leave some white doors.

One way would be to just do the doors facing out into the hallway (assuming you have one with your layout). Some people even just do the side of the door that faces out, and the other side is white, along with any closet doors, built-ins, etc. I’ll be painting all of the doors on the second floor black, but there are lots of ways to approach it!

[…] I don’t miss that unpainted wood at all! Again, a huge thank you to Paintzen for taking on the paint job. I can’t wait for the day I can make the rest of the second floor match these two rooms with […]

Hyedi

May 14, 2016 at 5:27 pm

I’d like to use that dark blue/green paint color in my small bedroom (low ceilings). How do you feel about dark paint colors in small rooms?
Do-able ya think? I have very similar taste as you; white or light pink bedding with dark walls. It Teeters between feminine and masculine, which balances out mine and my Hub’s taste.

The original wood frames and detail was beautiful but you have done it justice with the quality white paintwork.
We did something similar with white detail and grey walls in our home (renovated to be hamptons style). All that hard will pay off nicely, love your styling too.

Melissa Livesay

September 26, 2016 at 9:35 am

Thank you so much for your commentary on painting woodwork. My husband and I just put a contract on a home with terrazzo floors and woodwork throughout. The home has been on and off the market for over 3 years and at this point, it’s a bargain because it needs updating. If the contract goes through, we plan on painting the woodwork in PARTS of the home and bring the home love and character. I appreciate your willingness to put your thoughts out here, allow for commentary and photos. This board has helped me have the courage to know that the home will be mine, my decisions, and hopefully bring love and value to a home that needs a breath of fresh air. The Chicago History Museum recently went under construction and even the History Museum decided to paint their woodwork. Thank you again for your willingness to allow for this thought process and debate!

The woodwork looks great!! I love the white trim and black doors combo – it makes a huge difference and it brightens the rooms and hallway so much! I am in the Chicago suburbs and will check out Paintzen. Thanks for sharing them! Can I ask where you got your wood shutters in the windows? So many shutter vendors want to build a box around the window. I have nice window trim (just, honey oak and needs to be painted, thus the Paintzen interest). I want very simple shutters, just like what you have. Thanks!!

Elnora T.

January 3, 2017 at 1:04 am

So sad to see all that beautiful woodwork ruined and painted over in a bland, lifeless white. It totally destroyed any historic value your home might have had and completely stripped the character from it. This fad for sacrificing any and all original features to make homes “bright” (why is that even good?) is very sad. I can only hope someone down the road can undo the damage you have done.